10th Oct 2007 07:01
Experian Group Limited10 October 2007 Experian Group Limited First Half Trading Update Experian, the global information solutions company, today issues an update ontrading for the six months to 30 September 2007. Commenting on the performance of Experian, Don Robert, Chief Executive Officer,said: "Our business has delivered a robust performance in the first half, against amore challenging market backdrop in the US and the UK, and particularly forLowerMyBills. While the revenue environment is tougher, we remain focused ondelivering profit in line with our expectations for the year as a whole." Experian Group % change in sales year-on-year for the six months to 30 September 2007 Continuing Total growth Total growth Organic growthactivities % % %only(1) At actual At constant At constant exchange rates exchange rates exchange rates North America(2) 6% 6% 5%Latin America(2) 4,438% 4,066% 46%UK and Ireland 18% 9% 5%EMEA/Asia Pacific(3) 21% 14% 8%Experian 17% 14% 6% (1) Experian is reporting in US dollars (2) Following the acquisition of Serasa, activities previously reported asAmericas will be reported as North America and Latin America (3) On 26 September 2007 Experian agreed the sale of Loyalty Solutions, aleading German point-of-sale network provider. The results presented excludeLoyalty Solutions for both periods In the six months to 30 September 2007, sales from continuing activities atExperian increased by 14% at constant exchange rates, including the first timecontribution of Serasa, the market leading credit bureau in Brazil. Organicsales growth was 6%. Excluding LowerMyBills, which was affected by the slowdownin the US mortgage market, group organic sales growth would have been 2percentage points higher in the half. Overall organic sales growth reflects robust performance across Credit Services,where organic sales growth was 4%. Decision Analytics sales increased by 6%,held back by timing-issues in the UK. There was good progress in MarketingSolutions, up 3%, reflecting the ongoing repositioning and organic sales growthat Interactive was 12%. Acquisitions contributed 8% to sales growth. Experian acquired a number of businesses in the period, with total acquisitionspend of $1.7bn, and agreed the disposal of one business. In addition to themajority stake in Serasa, Experian acquired Hitwise, a leading online marketintelligence company; Informarketing, a direct marketing services provider inBrazil; Tallyman, a collections management software business; Emailing Solution,a leading French permission-based email marketing company; The pH Group, a UKbusiness-to-business marketing analytics provider; and N4 Solutions, a UK-basedmortgage sector and financial services software provider. Experian also agreedthe sale of Loyalty Solutions, a leading German point-of-sale network provider. North America Sales in North America in the six months to 30 September 2007 increased by 6% intotal. Organic growth was 5%, with Hitwise (acquired in June 2007) contributingthe balance. At Credit Services, growth in non-mortgage activities, account management andcollections offset accelerating decline in mortgage origination. Organic salesgrowth was low single-digit demonstrating the resilience of the business modelthrough economic cycles. Decision Analytics delivered double-digit organicgrowth against very strong comparatives, while performance in MarketingSolutions further improved, with low single-digit organic growth. Organic salesgrowth at Interactive slowed to high single-digit, reflecting the impact onLowerMyBills of the US sub-prime mortgage market where the outlook remainschallenging. Across the remainder of Interactive, growth continues to be strong. Latin America Following the acquisition of Serasa, Latin America is now reported as a separategeographical segment. It includes the Credit Services activities acquired withSerasa, and Marketing Solutions activities acquired with Informarketing, as wellas Experian's Latin American Decision Analytics activities. Sales for Latin America for the six month period to 30 September 2007 were $102m(prior year $2m), including contributions from Serasa (acquired in June 2007)and Informarketing (acquired in April 2007). Organic growth at constant exchangerates was 46%, reflecting the performance of Decision Analytics only. The integration of Serasa is on track and the business performed well in theperiod following acquisition, in line with the acquisition buy-plan. UK and Ireland Sales from continuing activities in the UK and Ireland increased by 9% in thesix months to 30 September 2007 at constant exchange rates. Organic sales growthwas 5%, with the acquisitions of Eiger Systems (acquired in June 2006), Tallyman(acquired in May 2007), Hitwise, The pH Group (acquired July 2007) and N4Solutions (acquired July 2007) contributing the balance. The market environment for UK financial services is challenging, affectingExperian's credit and marketing-related activities. Notwithstanding this, CreditServices performed well, with low single-digit organic sales growth in the half.Due to timing issues, sales at Decision Analytics were broadly in line with lastyear, but given a strong pipeline a return to growth is expected in the secondhalf. Marketing Solutions delivered a resilient performance, with lowsingle-digit organic sales growth and Interactive continues to perform verystrongly, with sales doubling in the period. EMEA/Asia Pacific At constant exchange rates, sales in EMEA/Asia Pacific increased by 14% in thefirst half. Organic sales growth was 8%, with acquisitions, mainly EmailingSolution (acquired in May 2007), Tallyman and Hitwise, contributing the balance.Credit Services performed well, delivering mid single-digit organic salesgrowth, while there was double-digit organic sales growth at Decision Analytics,reflecting particularly good performance in Asia. Marketing Solutions alsoperformed strongly, with double-digit organic sales growth in the period. Future announcements Experian will issue its Half-Yearly Report for the six months to 30 September2007 on 15 November 2007. Enquiries ExperianPaul Brooks Chief Financial Officer +44 (0)203 042 4215Nadia Ridout-Jamieson Director of Investor Relations FinsburyRollo Head +44 (0)207 251 3801Nick Woodruff This announcement is available on the Experian website, www.experiangroup.com.There will be a conference call to discuss this update at 3.00pm today (UKtime), which will be broadcast live on the website with a recording availablelater. All financial information is based on unaudited management accounts. Certainstatements made in this Trading Update are forward-looking statements. Suchstatements are based on current expectations and are subject to a number ofrisks and uncertainties that could cause actual events or results to differmaterially from any expected future events or results referred to in theseforward-looking statements. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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